Seeing Beauty in the Ordinary

by Katherine Kloepper, guest writer

Your soul has most likely been stirred by the beauty of something extraordinary, such as a massive piece of art, a glorious mountain view, an electrifying sunset, or an exceptional musical composition. We love for these beautiful extravagances to be part of our lives. But at the same time, we have a tendency to ignore the ordinary in-between moments that linger and carry us from one extravagance to the next.

Way too often I catch myself in a state of being dazed. I grow numb to what is going on in each moment of the day because the run-of-the-mill things are what carry me to the next evidently beautiful thing.

I sit in a state of waiting for something exquisite to happen in the future and leave behind a mindset of wonder in the present. This is senseless because I am only ever existing in the present. We know beauty exists in the future and the future is becoming our present; therefore, there must be beauty where we are right now.

Don’t waste time looking forward to something extravagant. Beauty always exists with us right where we are standing. If you don’t look for it where you are in the present, you will miss something.

by ReNay McKelvy

The mundane distracts us from beauty, too often drowning out the mystery and splendor of each moment. It can be hard to take notice of simple things and find this splendor and mystery because we let routine wash away our curious nature. We wake up. Brush our teeth. Look in the mirror, maybe one too many times. Go to work. Go to school. Eat. Go to bed. In this process, what we do not realize is that a day does not have to be flashy to be lovely. If we only expect the big, extravagant things to make our lives beautiful or worth something, then we are wrong. The big, stunning moments that we wait for are beautiful, but they are not what most of our lives are made of.

God desires for us to enter into the fullness of every moment because each of these moments somehow piece together like a weird, confusing puzzle. God is creating this massive, wildly beautiful story for you and he doesn’t skip the seemingly insignificant details. God himself is the ultimate standard of beauty; therefore, it is only through him that beauty exists. He manifests himself in all things for his glory, even in the simple, repetitive parts of our existence. God isn’t just watching us go about our business waiting for us to run into something breath-taking. He is in each circumstance with us and does not waste the time that ties us to it. His beautiful existence permeates everything to draw our attention to Him.

Our hearts should be awake and desiring to find beauty in little details. There is something striking and poetic in the simple things of life that we need to take notice of, such as turning the page of a newspaper full of words you have read thousands of times, just pieced together in different ways. How incredible is it that words can be used in an infinite number of combinations? Or drinking a warm, rich cup of coffee that used to be several tiny, individual beans scattered in the ground of a completely different country, yet somehow accumulated together and landed in your mug. How beautiful is it that each of those coffee beans received the attention of who knows how many other souls that God created? Or looking dear friends in the eye and remembering that there was a time when you never knew them, but forgetting what life felt like without them.

In everything there is splendor and meaning because God permeates them all. Each of these details should bring us to our knees in thankfulness. It is in these small, lovely puzzle pieces of our lives that we should give thanks to the Lord for giving it color and life. Not only that, but these niceties should draw us into reverence for Him. These little details point to a God who is sovereign and touches everything.

The ordinary things of life are what we need to pay attention to. If we don’t, we can miss something. We can miss someone. We can miss wonder. We can miss mystery. We can miss truth. There is beauty in the way of all things. So take notice of the little details that hold subtle elegance. These moments awaken us to something bigger than ourselves. They should draw our attention to our wonderfully creative Creator. Therefore, take a deep breath and breathe in the tangibly lovely moment you are standing in.